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Daily VedantaOne lamp, one day
The teachers

Fifty-one people, arranged on the steps of one stand.

Nothing on this site is invented. Every message traces back to a named teacher, and every teacher here has a full page — where they were born, where they walked, what they wrote, what they were up against, and what they actually said. They are set out below the way figures are set out on the steps at Navarātri: the oldest on the highest step, each step below it a little wider, until the lowest step holds the teachers who are still speaking this week.

1

Before the eighth century

The teacher of Śaṅkara's teacher, and the teacher who accepted him.

2 teachers
Gauḍapādac. 6th century CE Govinda Bhagavatpādac. 7th–8th century CE
2

The eighth century

Śaṅkara, the four disciples he left in charge, and the opponent who became a disciple.

6 teachers
Adi Shankarac. 8th century CE Hastāmalaka8th century CE Maṇḍana Miśrac. 8th century CE Padmapādāchārya8th century CE Sureśvarāchārya8th century CE Toṭakāchārya8th century CE
3

Ninth to eleventh centuries

The sub-commentators who made the position argue for itself.

4 teachers
Vācaspati Miśrac. 9th–10th century CE Prakāśātmanc. 10th century CE Sarvajñātmanc. 10th–11th century CE Vimuktātmanc. 10th century CE
4

Twelfth to eighteenth centuries

Consolidation: manuals, method texts, and a wandering saint who wrote nothing down.

4 teachers
Vidyāraṇya14th century CE Madhusūdana Sarasvatīc. 16th century CE Dharmarāja Adhvarīndrac. 17th century CE Sadāśiva Brahmendrac. 17th–18th century CE
5

The nineteenth century

Non-duality lived rather than argued — Dakshineswar, Arunachala, the Himalaya.

20 teachers
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa1836–1886 Sri Sarada Devi1853–1920 Swami Shivananda1854–1934 Swami Brahmananda1863–1922 Swami Ramakrishnananda1863–1911 Swami Turiyananda1863–1922 Swami Vivekananda1863–1902 Swami Akhandananda1864–1937 Swami Saradananda1865–1927 Swami Brahmānanda Saraswatī1871–1953 Swami Rama Tirtha1873–1906 Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni1878–1936 Sri Ramana Maharshi1879–1950 Swami Satchidānandendra Saraswatī1880–1975 Swami Sivananda1887–1963 Swami Tapovan Maharaj1889–1957 Muruganar1890–1973 Chandraśekhara Bhāratī III1892–1954 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj1897–1981 Swami Gambhirananda1899–1988
6

The twentieth century

The teaching translated, printed, and taken into classrooms and halls.

10 teachers
Annamalai Swami1906–1995 Swami Ranganathananda1908–2005 H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji)1910–1997 Swami Chinmayananda1916–1993 Abhinava Vidyātīrtha1917–1989 Swami Dayananda Saraswati1930–2015 Swami Abhedanandadied 1939 Sadhu Omtwentieth century Swami Krishnanandatwentieth century Swami Nikhilanandatwentieth century
7

Teaching now

Living teachers, in Śṛṅgeri, in New York, in Chennai and wherever a class is running this week.

5 teachers
Swami Tejomayanandab. 1950 Bhāratī Tīrthab. 1951 Swami Sarvapriyanandab. 1968 Swami Paramarthanandaliving teacher Swami Swaroopanandab. 1950s
The Shankara LineageThe Ramakrishna LineageThe Ramana LineageThe Chinmaya LineageKindred Voices
Dakṣiṇāmūrti — the teacher who teaches in silence

The Shankara Lineage · 21 teachers

Advaita given its architecture — The Advaita Guru Paramparā traces itself from the Vedic seers through Gauḍapāda and Govinda Bhagavatpāda to Adi Shankara, and from his four principal disciples into the monastic seats he established at the four corners of India. The Sringeri line continues unbroken to the present Jagadguru.

Gauḍapāda c. 6th century CE Grand-guru of Adi Shankara Govinda Bhagavatpāda c. 7th–8th century CE Guru of Adi Shankara Adi Shankara c. 8th century CE The pivotal exponent of Advaita Vedanta Sureśvarāchārya 8th century CE Direct disciple of Adi Shankara Padmapādāchārya 8th century CE Direct disciple of Adi Shankara Toṭakāchārya 8th century CE Direct disciple of Adi Shankara Hastāmalaka 8th century CE Direct disciple of Adi Shankara Vidyāraṇya 14th century CE Jagadguru of Sringeri; author Sadāśiva Brahmendra c. 17th–18th century CE Avadhūta and composer Chandraśekhara Bhāratī III 1892–1954 34th Jagadguru of Sringeri Abhinava Vidyātīrtha 1917–1989 35th Jagadguru of Sringeri Bhāratī Tīrtha b. 1951 36th Jagadguru of Sringeri Maṇḍana Miśra c. 8th century CE Author of the Brahma-siddhi Vācaspati Miśra c. 9th–10th century CE Author of the Bhāmatī commentary Prakāśātman c. 10th century CE Author of the Pañcapādikā-vivaraṇa Sarvajñātman c. 10th–11th century CE Author of the Saṃkṣepaśārīraka Madhusūdana Sarasvatī c. 16th century CE Author of the Advaita-siddhi Dharmarāja Adhvarīndra c. 17th century CE Author of the Vedānta Paribhāṣā Swami Satchidānandendra Saraswatī 1880–1975 Founder of the Adhyātma Prakāśa Kāryālaya, Holenarasipura Vimuktātman c. 10th century CE Author of the Iṣṭa-siddhi Swami Brahmānanda Saraswatī 1871–1953 Śaṅkarācārya of the Jyotir Maṭha, Joshimath
The Divine Mother at the river temple

The Ramakrishna Lineage · 14 teachers

Non-duality lived, then carried worldwide — Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa practised within several traditions and declared one goal. Sri Sarada Devi and his direct monastic disciples formed the Ramakrishna Order, which Swami Vivekananda took to the world in 1893, and which today teaches Advaita in centres across every continent.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 1836–1886 Mystic of Dakshineswar Sri Sarada Devi 1853–1920 Holy Mother Swami Vivekananda 1863–1902 Founder of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Brahmananda 1863–1922 1st President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Shivananda 1854–1934 2nd President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Saradananda 1865–1927 Direct disciple; first General Secretary Swami Turiyananda 1863–1922 Direct disciple; teacher in California Swami Ramakrishnananda 1863–1911 Direct disciple; founder of the Madras centre Swami Akhandananda 1864–1937 Direct disciple; 3rd President Swami Ranganathananda 1908–2005 13th President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Sarvapriyananda b. 1968 Minister, Vedanta Society of New York Swami Abhedananda died 1939 Direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna; Vedānta teacher in London and New York Swami Gambhirananda 1899–1988 Translator of Śaṅkara's commentaries; eleventh President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Nikhilananda twentieth century Translator of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Aruṇācala before sunrise

The Ramana Lineage · 6 teachers

One question, asked for fifty-four years — Sri Ramana Maharshi left no organisation and named no successor, teaching self-enquiry mostly in silence at Arunachala. What survives comes through those who wrote it down and those who lived it, in India and beyond.

Sri Ramana Maharshi 1879–1950 The sage of Arunachala Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni 1878–1936 Scholar-poet; named Ramana Muruganar 1890–1973 Poet of Ramana's teaching Annamalai Swami 1906–1995 Disciple and ashram worker H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji) 1910–1997 Disciple of Ramana; teacher at Lucknow Sadhu Om twentieth century Compiler and translator in Ramana Maharshi's Tamil circle
Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna — the conversation in the middle of the crisis

The Chinmaya Lineage · 8 teachers

The scriptures brought to the streets — Swami Tapovan Maharaj taught in Himalayan seclusion at Uttarkashi; his student Swami Chinmayananda took the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads to mass audiences from 1951, founding Chinmaya Mission and its children's classes. The line continues through his successors.

Swami Sivananda 1887–1963 Founder of the Divine Life Society Swami Tapovan Maharaj 1889–1957 Guru of Swami Chinmayananda Swami Chinmayananda 1916–1993 Founder of Chinmaya Mission Swami Dayananda Saraswati 1930–2015 Teacher of teachers; Arsha Vidya Swami Tejomayananda b. 1950 Head of Chinmaya Mission, 1993–2017 Swami Swaroopananda b. 1950s Present head of Chinmaya Mission Swami Krishnananda twentieth century General Secretary of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh Swami Paramarthananda living teacher Teacher of Vedānta in Chennai
One lamp, one day

Kindred Voices · 2 teachers

The same enquiry, outside the four lines — Teachers of the same non-dual enquiry who stand outside these four successions, and whose plain language often opens the door fastest.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 1897–1981 Householder sage of Bombay Swami Rama Tirtha 1873–1906 Mathematician turned monk

These are living institutions, not historical curiosities. If any of it lands, go to the source: a Śṛṅgeri discourse, a Sunday talk in New York, a Saturday morning class at a Chinmaya centre.

Now the texts they all comment on